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Dr Memunatu Pratt, Sierra Leone’s Minister of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, has held a discussion on partnering with the tourism industry with the Head of Office of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), Christos Christodoulides at the Ministry’s Headquarters, Kingharman Road, Freetown.
The meeting was focused on the various opportunities in the tourism industry for Sierra Leonean returnees and the minister said, the idea was to have an integrated arrangement between the Ministry and the IOM in terms of reintegrating returnees by looking at the diversified facilities of tourism.
These opportunities which may include, training returnees on eco-tourism development through beach management, giving them the capacity to recycle and going into small businesses and entertainment for returnees in the tourism industry might be very helpful for them to start productive living in their various communities.
She added that the Ministry and the National Tourist Board will be holding induction training for the returnees to have an understanding of the importance of what they will be engaged in, take their minds off their return to Sierra Leone and focus on the opportunities that await them.
Christos Christodoulides, the Head of the Office for the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), said it was an honour to discuss with the Minister their collaboration with the Ministry, saying that their first pilot project for the next three months is to support three hundred Sierra Leonean returnees on pilot reintegration programme which is aimed at beach cleaning with support from the government of Italy.
He stated that the aim of IOM Sierra Leone is to strengthen the strong collaboration with the Ministry and support vulnerable Sierra Leonean returnees in innovative reintegration projects.
